DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter

A/N: What happened when Ron left Harry and Hermione in that tent? How did he get away from the Snatchers and where did he stay?

Tomorrow

Ron lay on a lower bunk in the tent he had been sharing with Harry and Hermione for several months now, listening to their revelation over the sword of Godric Gryffindor.

Great, he thought. Another thing we have to bloody find!

It was his turn to wear the Horcrux, so he wasn't in the best of moods. They had just eavesdropped on Ted Tonks and his companions. What they heard seemed to please Harry and Hermione, but it only gave Ron more reason to panic. He'd heard with his own ears (Extendable and real) the words 'the Weasley's don't need another kid injured'. What had happened? Who else had been hurt? And it was all Harry's fault.

No, don't think that! It's You-Know-Who's fault, not Harry's!

He knew Ginny was safe, had only been given detention with Hagrid, but it was in the Forbidden Forest and Ron knew from experience how dangerous it could be (he still had nightmare's about his second year when he had visited Aragog, which had only heightened his fear of spiders). But what had happened to the rest of his family?

"…And what about the rest of my family, 'the Weasley's don't need another kid injured', did you hear that?" yelled Ron.

"Yeah, I - " stammered Harry.

"Not bothered what it meant, though?"

"Ron!" said Hermione loudly, stepping between them. "I don't think it means anything new has happened, anything we don't know about; think, Ron, Bill's already scarred, plenty of people must have seen that George has lost an ear by now, and you're supposed to be on your death bed with spattergroit, I'm sure that's all he meant - "

Ron knew somewhere deep down that she was right, but the Horcrux hanging around his neck was feeding his anger, egging him on, letting every bitter thought touch his lips.

Ten minutes later, Ron was storming from the tent, out into the rain and darkness. He could hear Hermione calling his name from inside, but he didn't turn back. She had chosen to stay with Harry. The thought pierced his heart as though he had been stabbed by an icy blade. It was his worst nightmare come true.

Ron turned on the spot and Disapparated to the first place that came to mind. As soon as he steadied himself he wanted to go back, but he realised he'd Apparated right into a group of four men and one woman, all wearing black robes.

"'Ello, 'ello! What we got 'ere?" A haggard looking man pointed his wand at Ron and Disarmed him. Another of the group caught it, whilst a third grabbed him and held him tight. "Who are you, then?" asked the first man.

Ron stammered the first name that came to him. "St - Stan Shunpike." He could only hope that the group of five people didn't know the real Stan Shunpike, otherwise he would be dead within the hour.

"'E don't look like Shunpike. I remember when 'e was the conductor on that stupid bus. 'E was all pimply!"

The fifth man that wasn't holding Ron or his wand said, "Well, this one looks like he's got pimples, so it could be him!"

The haggard-looking man seemed determined to find out whether Ron really was Stan or not. "But what if he's not Stan? We could get us some gold if he's a Mudblood, especially if he's been known to interact with Potter and his friends."

"I - I am Stan," Ron gulped. "I - I was in Hufflepuff at Hogwarts and I got the conductors job as soon as I left. That was about five years ago."

The woman eyed him suspiciously, as though she could see through his lies. "Where's the common room, then?"

Damn! Where did Harry say it was? Ron tried to picture the map in his mind, following the passages with his minds eye.

"It's in the - er - the - the - basement? Near the kitchens?"

The woman still looked at him with some suspicion, whilst the haggard man brought his face close to Ron's. The smell emanating from him made Ron gag, reminding him of his first year experience with the mountain troll.

"You sure 'bout that, Stan? You see, we need the money that's being rewarded for picking up Mudblood's that are on the run. And if you're not Stan then - "

The woman seemed to have made up her mind because she interrupted the first man. "For goodness' sake, Hurley! He's Stan Shunpike. He knows where the Hufflepuff common room is: yes, it's in the basement. My cousin was in Hufflepuff and she always used to tell me stories of how they would slip out late and night and sneak to the kitchens for food. Can't we let him go and leave already? Catch a real Mudblood?"

She crossed her arms and tapped the toe of her shoe impatiently on the ground. But the man wasn't going to give in that easily.

"'Ow d'you know 'e ain't some Hufflepuff Mudblood pretending to be Shunpike?" he roared. "We'll miss out on the money!"

"Jees, Hurley! Does everything have to be about the bloody money? You think you're something special, trying to boss us all around. Well, here's a newsflash for you, you dirty little troll - "

"I am not a troll!" he bellowed, pointing his wand at the woman. "I just - haven't washed in a while."

Ron was still pinned to the man holding him and he watched the arguing in exasperation. It seemed as though the others had forgotten he was even there, so intent was their concentration on the two people in front of them. When he could take it no more he elbowed the man holding him in the stomach, grabbing the mans wand as he doubled over, grunting in pain. He pointed the wand at the man holding his own and shouted "Expelliarmus!" He caught his wand and Disapparated again so that he appeared in the forest where they had pitched their tent.

Ron's fingers were dripping with blood from where he had managed to Splinch himself, but he paid no attention to his missing nails. He needed to find the tent again, and, most importantly, Harry and Hermione. He needed to apologise to them, say he was sorry for leaving them, but although he walked all night he could not find either them or the tent. All night he had shouted their names and apologies, hoping they would hear him and welcome him back. The sun had risen and was riding high in the sky by the time he finally reached the place on the stretch of riverbank where they had been the night before.

I don't believe it! They're gone!

He laughed in disbelief and exasperation, amazed and hurt that they had already moved on. He was now on his own with no chance of survival. He needed a place to stay. Should he go to the Burrow? Somehow he didn't think that his family would be very understanding. Well, Bill might. Bill had always been Ron's favourite brother growing up. As the youngest of the boys, Ron was always expected to do as well as the others. Percy used to boast about his perfect grades, trying to get Ron to follow in his footsteps. Charlie was barely at home anymore because he was working in Romania with dragons, a highly-respected job. Fred and George made sure that they always pranked Ron at least once a week when they were home for the holidays. In all, none of his brothers, other than Bill, gave Ron any hope of ever been good at anything.

Bill, as the eldest, always made sure he looked out for Ron, knowing what it was like to have people expect great things from you. When he was home from Egypt, he always made time for Ron to boost his morale and confidence. Ron could never see the point in trying to do anything great: the others had all done it first, after all. But Bill had always told him that his time will come for him to prove himself to everyone else.

That's what I'll do. I'll go to Bill's place. He'll understand.

A few seconds later, Ron appeared at the gate of Shell Cottage, Bill and Fleur's new home. Bill had told Ron that if he ever needed help, then all he had to do was ask. He needed help now, so where else was better to go?

He pushed open the gate and walked up the garden path, the sound waves from the sea crashing against the rocks reaching his ears. The wind whipped his over-long hair about his face as he knocked on the door.

"Who's there?" came Bill's rough voice from behind the door.

"It's me, Ron Weasley."

"Who Transfigured your teddy bear when you were little and what did they Transfigure it into?"

Ron rolled his eyes at the question: he had been determined to forget that incident, but to no avail. "Fred did it and the git turned it into a massive bloody spider, so now I'm forever scared of the freaks. Spiders, too."

Bill opened the door and pulled Ron into a bone-crushing hug. "Ron! Thank Merlin you're safe. But - where are Harry and Hermione? Didn't you leave with them after the wedding?" He gasped, "They're no - not -?"

"No, they're not dead, Bill. At least they weren't last night."

"Then what are you doing here?" Confusion flooded his face before it cleared and anger replaced it. "You left them? You left them?"

He let go of Ron and smacked him around the head. "How could you do that, Ron? They need you! And you left! I can't believe it. I just don't -"

"What eez going on? Ron? What are you doing 'ere?" asked Fleur, who had just stepped into the hallway. Ron struggled to concentrate as he looked at her.

"Ron's going to be staying here for a little while, Fleur," Bill said, looking down at Ron. "He can use the spare bedroom."

Bill took Ron's arm and led him into the kitchen, followed by Fleur who immediately ladled some French onion soup into a bowl: they had evidently only just had dinner. Ron slumped in his chair, over come with fatigue and hunger. He had not eaten all day or slept since yesterday morning.

He ate hungrily as he filled them in on what exactly he had heard and why he left. He had to know that the rest of his family was safe. Bill told him everyone was as safe as they were going to be for the time being. There hadn't been any other injuries: they were all more concerned for Ron's, Hermione's and Harry's well-being than their own.

"Don't worry, Ron," Bill said. "When the time's right, you'll be able to go back to them. Just don't leave them again and don't give them a reason to not want you back. You're more help to them than you realise, you know. They need you. Do you really think that Harry, as your best friend, would have gotten through all those tight spots if he thought he didn't have a reason to go back? If you weren't there to pull him through? Do you really think that Hermione, as your girlfriend, would ever -"

Ron choked on his soup as he spluttered, "Hermione's not my girlfriend!"

Fleur smiled while Bill frowned. "She's not? But you were dancing at our wedding," he pointed to himself and his wife. "You were always complimenting her. I've seen the way you look at her. Are you telling me she doesn't know?"

Ron smiled sheepishly and said, "Yeah, that would be about right."

Fleur rolled her eyes and got up to leave them room, saying she needed an early night. As she walked past Bill she kissed him passionately, Ron looking away in embarrassment. He became overly interested in a slice of bread that he was using to mop up the dregs of soup in his bowl. When, at last, he looked up he saw that Bill was leant back in his chair, arms folded across his chest and one eyebrow raised, causing the scars on his face to stretch slightly.

"What?" he asked, defensively. "I'm hungry! I've not had a proper meal since the night before we broke into the Ministry - er, I mean-"

Bill laughed. "Don't worry, we had an inkling it was you three. Which one were you? Runcorn, Cattermole or Hopkirk?"

"I was that Reg Cattermole bloke, Hermione was Mafalda Hopkirk and Harry was that Albert Runcorn. Blimey, it was weird having to look up to talk to Harry! Anyway, how did you know it was us?"

Bill laughed again and leant forward in his chair. "Dad said something about a Ministry break-in, Muggle-born's going free, Mad-Eye's eye going missing from Umbridge's door and Runcorn telling Dad about him being tracked, not to mention a stag Patronus. You caused a bit of a stir, I can tell you! He thought something wasn't right when Runcorn spoke to him. He's on the Death Eaters side - he tracked down Dirk Cresswell's family tree and had him sent to Azkaban -"

"He escaped," interrupted Ron. "We overheard him last night on the Extendable's. Sorry, carry on."

"Anyway, like I said, Dad said it didn't add up. Then there was the whole 'two Reg Cattermole's' fiasco, so he came to the conclusion that it was you three in disguise. Who else would want to break into the Ministry?"

Bill seemed to look expectantly at Ron, as though hoping he would elaborate on why they had done what they did, but Ron pushed his chair back, stood up and said, "Goodnight, Bill. Although, do excuse me if I don't kiss you."

"Ron, wait! Can't you tell me? I'm your brother, I'm in the Order so I could help."

But Ron just waved, ambled from the kitchen and called, "Goodnight!"

Weeks passed by and Ron was gradually getting back into the habit of three square meals a day and home comforts. Bill still worked for Gringott's, but for how much longer, no one knew. It would only be a matter of time before they had to go into full-time hiding, something that would stretch all their nerves to breaking point. Fleur had wanted to fix Ron's fingers by making his nails grow back, but he wouldn't let her. He didn't quite know why, but he just wouldn't. They were only fingernails, after all. Two insignificant details compared to the two people he had lost. He would always say he had lost them. Not because they had died, but because he had left them behind, ensuring that they wouldn't want him back. It was the biggest mistake of his life.

Ron was insistent that he should earn his keep. He helped change the sheets, wash the laundry and, when Fleur would let him, helped her to prepare dinner, ready for when Bill got home from work.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Ron spent a lot of time hiding up in his bedroom whenever they had visitors. These visitors had no idea that Ron was staying with his brother and sister-in-law and Ron had no desire to tell them, either. Tonks and Lupin had already visited. Ron didn't chance it by sneaking downstairs whilst Disillusioned to see them. Bill had told him that Tonks was getting bigger. Ron was glad to know that they were together and had decided to keep the baby.

It was a week before Christmas and Ron was stood at the top of the stair, camouflaged as the wall of the hallway, looking down on the scene below. His parents stood by the front door talking to Bill and Fleur. Molly and Arthur had no idea that Ron was there and that was the way it was going to stay.

"Oh, mum, if it's alright with you, we won't be coming to the Burrow on Christmas Day. We just want to spend it alone, what with it being our first holiday married."

Ron felt guilty: he was going to ruin their first Christmas together by being the cowardly ex-best friend of Harry Potter. Bill stood behind Fleur, his arms wrapped around her waist and his chin resting on her shoulder, gazing at his mother intently. Molly looked as though she was going to argue, but her husband put his arm around her shoulder, winked at his son and said, "Of course, we understand. After all, Molly, dear, we did the same thing, remember?"

Molly blushed before saying, "I - oh, alright, then. I'll send you your presents with Errol on the Christmas Eve. Just don't unwrap them before." She sighed before hesitantly adding, "I hope Ron, Harry and Hermione show up. I've made them all their jumpers. I even remembered not to make Ron's maroon this time. I've made a whole batch of Cauldron Cakes for them, too. You've not heard from them, have you dears?"

Bill and Fleur squirmed before Fleur answered, "No, we 'ave not seen zem. Zey will come back when zey are ready, I theenk."

Molly's eyes swelled with tears as she looked at her daughter-in-law. "I hope you're right, love. Well, I'll just put their presents away if they don't show up. We better be off, Arthur. Fred and George should be arriving soon."

Molly hugged both her son and Fleur, whilst Arthur shook Bill's hand and clapped him on the shoulder, before kissing Fleur on both cheeks. They stepped out of the door and Disapparated as soon as they were out of the boundaries of Shell Cottage.

"You can come down now, Ron," called Bill.

It was Christmas Eve and they were sat in the small living room after dinner. Errol had already brought presents for Bill and Fleur and was now perched by the window, recovering from his flight. They had just finished listening to this new wireless station that Bill said was called Potterwatch. Ron had recognised the voices of Lee Jordan, Remus Lupin and Kingsley Shacklebolt and was now sat thinking about what they had said about the extent of Muggle-born's trying to evade the Ministry.

There was still no news of the whereabouts of Harry and Hermione, and whilst Ron maintained that no news was good news, he still could not help the churning feeling in his gut that something bad was going to happen, or already had. It always did whenever it concerned Harry. Ron chuckled to himself, making Bill ask him what was so funny.

"Just an inside joke we used to have, about how everything seems to happen to Harry. You know, I really, really miss them, Bill. I wish I never left them." He looked at Bill, pleading for him to understand, to comfort him. "I want to go back, but I don't know where they are! And Hermione, she'll never forgive me!"

Ron choked back a sob as Bill enveloped him in his strong arms, whilst Fleur sat looking on helplessly.

"You need to theenk, Ron. Where would zey 'ave gone?" Ron tried to think. He knew of all the places they had named, trying to decide where the Horcruxes were. They had already checked out most of them and some of them were impossible to get to, such as Hogwarts or Gringotts. It was no use. He would never find them.

"I have no idea. We've been moving up and down the country, never staying in one place for more than two nights at the most. Not to mention Hermione puts up all the protective spells and stuff, so it would be impossible for me to see or hear them," he sighed. "I suppose I'll just have to wait until V - Vol -"

"Don't say the name, Ron!" Bill almost shouted. "The names been jinxed, it's Taboo. You say it and his Death Eaters will be able to find you in about a second. It breaks through every protective spell, so there's no chance of you being able to hide or have time to put them back up. We found that out when they almost got Kingsley. He was lucky to have escaped. The people who almost caught him were not the brightest of sparks. He sent a message to the Order. It makes perfect sense what with us being the only ones serious enough to use his name."

"What? You mean, if you say his name, they can find you? Bloody hell!" He jumped up. "Harry and Hermione don't know. You know what Harry's like, he always says the name. They'll be killed!"

Bill grabbed Ron's arm and yanked him back onto the sofa. "Calm down, Ron! Hermione is one of the cleverest witches I have ever met and Harry definitely knows his stuff. Surely you haven't forgotten Dumbledore's Army already, have you?"

"Of course I haven't, you dolt! I helped come up with the idea."

"Well, then, you'll know that they can fend for themselves. I have complete faith in them. Now, why don't you get to bed? I want us all up early tomorrow.

Ron's return to Harry and Hermione filled him with a kind of new determination. Before their escapade at the Lovegood's residence, Ron seemed to stay in mourning to show to the others that he was deeply sorry for having deserted them. Inside, however, he was bouncing around with joy at seeing them both again. He tried to remain as much as a part of the background as he possibly could. He did his best to stay on the good side of Hermione by keeping his complaints on the non-existent food supply to a bare minimum.

After the incident at the Lovegood's, however, Ron's dormant leadership skills started to kick in.

Harry spent most of his time obsessing over the Death Hallows, something neither Ron nor Hermione found even remotely interesting anymore. They searched and pondered again and again for possible locations of the other Horcruxes, but their search was fruitless. They travelled to ever more unlikely places, always finding nothing.

Ron was sat in one of the sagging armchairs in the tent, opposite Hermione who sat in another, her nose buried deep in a book: The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore. Harry was sat in the entrance to the tent, looking out into the night. No doubt thinking about the Hallows, thought Ron.

Ron couldn't understand why Hermione found the book so interesting: he had already looked in it shortly after his return and found that the information hardly surprised him at all. It was all just a kick in the teeth for those that worshipped him, Harry included, who refused to read it.

His mind wandered to the young woman sat in front of him. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she read, forming a little dimple above her left eye, something that Ron had noticed long ago, but never registered, when they would sit in the common room doing homework. After months of being on the run and having very few real meals, she seemed to have lost a lot of weight, as had Harry, making Ron feel guilty for the meals he had eaten whilst staying at Bill's. But their weight loss did not show under the many layers of clothing they wore to keep warm. She had dark shadows under her eyes, which were thrown into even darker relief when the light from the blue-bell flames flickered in the jar next to her.

But she still looks beautiful, sighed Ron inwardly.

Hermione chose that moment to look up at him, as though she had somehow heard his thoughts. She stopped frowning and smiled at him instead, making his ears go bright red.

"Yes?

"I - we - you -," stuttered Ron. He thought he heard Harry chuckle to himself in the doorway, but he ignored him. "Hermione, could I - er, borrow that book please?"

Damn! Why didn't I just tell her? Ron mentally cursed himself as he saw Hermione's smile fade a little as she passed him the book. He didn't even want it, surely she knew that? Now he had to sit and pretend to be interested in it.

Harry couldn't contain himself anymore. He burst out laughing and turned to look at the others. "I can't believe you, Ron! I really can't!" He rolled on the floor, clutching at his sides, laughing at Ron's bewildered face and Hermione's confused expression.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"You alright, mate?" asked Ron.

"I'm fine, just laughing at you two," he managed to say through his laughter. "And I thought I was blind! Ha, ha! When are you two going to realise that - that - you - both -" Harry couldn't control his fits of laughter anymore. Soon, the others were laughing too, without knowing what they were even laughing at. It had been a while since either of them had laughed, especially Harry: his laughter was infectious and soon all three of them were clutching their sides, struggling to breathe.

As they laughed and told jokes that night, Ron couldn't help, but think on what Harry had struggled to say. Specifically the bit about being blind. Did he mean how blind he was when he didn't realise he fancied Ginny? But then, that must mean that he's noticed how I look at Hermione! Has Harry noticed something about Hermione, too?

Ron finally knew what Harry was laughing at and said, "Thanks, Harry!" Harry winked knowingly at him, something that Hermione didn't notice for she had been wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

There was still some hope left in Ron. I just need the right time. Afterall, tomorrow is another day.

A/N: Reviews are just too good :)